Tag: WWE

WWE Knew About Roman Reigns’ Wellness Failure Days Before Money In The Bank

Source: WrestlingNews.Co

The big story this week is about Roman Reigns’ wellness policy failure and his 30-day suspension. WWE has not released any other information other than Reigns’ statement.

There have been instances where a wrestler would fail a wellness test but would be kept on TV for weeks or months before being suspended. In the case of Reigns, it was a recent failure. Very few people knew before it was announced but his wellness failure was known by the company by late last week.

Since Reigns was about to be suspended, it made sense for him to lose the title at Money In The Bank. The title change to Seth Rollins and then to Dean Ambrose was said to be a late change made by Vince McMahon. It’s not known for sure if the late change was a coincidence or if it was a result of Reigns’ wellness failure but it’s worth nothing that you rarely see top guys lose clean like Reigns did.

Reigns will not be at the draft show on July 19 but his suspension will be up in time before the Battleground pay-per-view on July 24.

Major WWE Pay-Per-View Changes Revealed For The Upcoming WWE Brand Extension?

Source: WrestlingINC

We recently reported how WWE was apparently bringing back the WCW Clash of the Champions name for TV specials and other merchandising. We also reported how there were plans to do brand-specific pay-per-view events after the upcoming WWE Brand Extension.

According to a user on Reddit, WWE will indeed be bringing back the Clash name to use at a RAW branded pay-per-view event. The user also leaked this pay-per-view calendar for the rest of the year.

It should be noted that these changes have not been confirmed:

* WWE SummerSlam – August 21st in Brooklyn, 7pm EST start time, both brands

* WWE Backlash, September 11th in Richmond, 8pm EST start time, SmackDown event, WWE Network exclusive

* WWE Clash of the Champions, September 25th in Indianapolis, 8pm EST start time, RAW event

* WWE No Mercy, October 9th in Sacramento, 8pm EST start time, SmackDown event

* WWE Hell In a Cell, October 30th in Boston, 8pm EST start time, RAW event

* WWE Survivor Series, November 20th in Toronto, 7pm EST start time, both brands

* WWE TLC, December 4th in Dallas, 8pm EST start time, SmackDown event

* WWE Roadblock, December 18th in Pittsburgh, 8pm EST start time, RAW event

Update:

It appears the “leaked” WWE pay-per-view list for the rest of 2016 showing brand-exclusive events and the returns of Clash of the Champions, No Mercy and Backlash may be legitimate. WWE would not confirm or deny the list to The Observer but said, “We will soon announce show information for dates added to the calendar.”

Update: Natalya Not Leaving WWE

We noted earlier via PWInsider that people within WWE expect Natalya to leave the company once her current deal expires, mainly over how her husband Tyson Kidd is still out of action with a neck injury. Natalya took to Twitter to deny the reports. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter adds that there’s nothing to the reports and that Natalya is signed to WWE for a pretty significantly long period of time.

NXT Preview: 6/22/16

The following is scheduled for tonight’s 6/22 WWE NXT.

* Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Murphy.

* Oney Lorcan vs. Tye Dillinger.

* Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan.

* Bayley vs. Deonna Purazzo.

* No Way Jose vs. Josh Woods.

Is Roman Reigns Still Scheduled For WWE Battleground?

Source: WrestlingINC

Even though Roman Reigns likely won’t be on WWE TV before WWE Battleground next month, it appears as if he’s still scheduled for the WWE World Heavyweight Title match.

Several users on Twitter posted photos from last night’s SmackDown tapings of graphics being shown promoting the Shield triple threat match for WWE’s next pay-per-view event. The company would have had plenty of time to change the graphic had the plans been altered.

Reigns was suspended for 30 days after violating the WWE’s Wellness Policy.

Breaking News: Roman Reigns Suspended 

 We have learned in a posting from WWE.COM that WWE has suspended Joe Anoa`i (Roman Reigns) for 30 days effective immediately for his first violation of the company’s talent wellness policy.

It’ll be interesting to see if this will have any affect on the triple threat Championshp match for Battleground. 

Original Plans For WWE Money In The Bank Heel Turn, Speculation On Natalya Leaving WWE

Source: WrestlingINC

As seen at Sunday’s WWE Money In the Bank pay-per-view, Natalya turned on Becky Lynch after their tag team loss to Dana Brooke and WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte.

PWInsider Elite reports that Original plans had Becky turning heel. No word yet on why plans were changed.

On a related note, there has been a lot of internal speculation that Natalya may leave the company when her current WWE contract expires, due to the situation with husband Tyson Kidd being unable to wrestle. It should be noted that this is just speculation among people in the company and there’s been no solid word on Natalya looking to leave but people do expect her to go.

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More On Incident Involving Paige In Las Vegas

Source: WrestlingINC

We have not confirmed the report but apparently there was some sort of argument with Alberto Del Rio, who we now know was taken to a local hospital to get his knee examined after reportedly suffering an injury in the MITB Ladder Match.

It’s very possible the entire thing was filmed for Total Divas, from the injury to the “arrest” of Paige. As you can see in the photos below, it looks like she’s being led into an ambulance:

Paige – Detained By Police After MITB, Taken To Hospital For Medical Evaluation

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Pro Wrestling Sheet has confirmed that Paige was taken to the hospital Sunday night after WWE Money In the Bank… and the reason she was pictured in handcuffs is because the wrestler was detained by police shortly beforehand.

The Las Vegas Metro Police Department tells us officers were outside of Caesars Palace for an unrelated incident when they were flagged down over a female seen running into the streets.

After authorities caught up with the woman she was quickly detained, and officers determined that she needed to be taken to the hospital for undisclosed reasons.

Sources tell us the woman was Paige, and the photos on Twitter were indeed of the incident, but law enforcement officials say they’re unable to verify the woman’s name due to HIPAA laws.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us no charges were filed against Paige and WWE is currently investigating the matter to see if any disciplinary action will be necessary.

In the meantime, Paige wrestled Charlotte on RAW last night for the Women’s Championship.

Below are pictures from Sunday night:

WWE Draft Officially Announced – Date Revealed

WWE issued the following today:

WWE®’S DESTINY LIVE ON SMACKDOWN®NEW YORK and STAMFORD, CONN – June 20, 2016 – The destiny of all WWE Superstars will be determined on the first-ever live SmackDown on Tuesday, July 19 from 8-10 pm ET/PT on USA Network. A draft will be conducted by respective General Managers as to which talent will be chosen exclusively for Monday Night Raw® or SmackDown.

For the first time in history on back-to-back nights, these two distinctive brands (Monday Night Raw and Tuesday’s SmackDown) will compete with each other for television ratings, live events, and pay-per-views.

“This is an exciting new era for WWE in which we will yet again reinvent ourselves by creating a second night of compelling live television,” said Kevin Dunn, Executive Producer, WWE.

“We’re already hearing the excitement among WWE fans for SmackDown’s new live format, and our audiences are eagerly anticipating the live draft and what it means for their favorite Superstars,” said Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment.

With 878 original episodes, SmackDown is the second longest-running weekly episodic program in U.S. television history, only behind Monday Night Raw at 1,203 episodes.